I’m really curious what story MK12 will have as the ending from 11leaves room for pretty much any plot and the possibility of anyone returning.
Seeing the stories about employees at NRS being put on 80-100 hour work weeks is…disheartening.
I remember when I wanted a job in this industry, but seeing stuff like this (and more about it from other studios) I’m glad I didn’t. I can understand putting in overtime to finish something but this is insane
The quotes only mention up to Injustice 2 though, so maybe things have improved since then? I hope so
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That’s common practice in software development.
Rockstar and Blizzard employees have it worst.
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I know, it’s just been getting more attention as of late.
Hoping it eventually leads to these employees getting better treatment if more and more employees start speaking out about this kind of stuff
One would hope but I doubt it.
Recent studies have showed that writing code while standing and not sitting on a chair is more productive.Some companies already implemented this type of work.
Fucked up beyond belief.Even if true you should be given a choice.But in a world where big companies influence the political part of our system it’s difficult to fight.
Compounded by the risk of losing your job over speaking out about it. Which leads to more anonymous claims…which hold far less weight.
Makes me feel bad about complaining about the meager 50 hour weeks I was put on for a few months during my first year at my job…could have it way worse.
When i was going to high school it was talked about like a dream job to go to Full Sail and work making video games. My friend got degree in game design but decided to pursue other things instead. Probably worked out for him and I’m glad after hearing all of the crap about game design work hours that I just play them instead of make them. I wouldnt have as much fun making them as i would playing them any way
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I personally never liked working in big companies.
Every time I read one of these stories it reminds me of when I was subcontracted to where I work now. They talked a good game but you saw a lot of people being used and dumped when the (contracting) company was done with them. Was hard to watch and the contractors can’t do much about it because if they push back they just get cut anyways for someone who keeps their mouth shut.
Even working for the main organization I still see plenty of dumb shit. That “BioWare Magic” line from Anthem hit me square because that happens a lot around here (though we don’t get put in that kind of crunch). Management never understands what that “magic” actually costs, and it’s hard to shift that kind of institutional thinking. I’ve been trying here for a decade and I still feel like I’m yelling at a cloud.
The human costs of these big games makes me sad and angry to read about. No video game development effort should be causing psychological casualties.
That is my old man gamer rant for the week.
On a slightly more positive note: higher level play in MK11 still confounds me but I can fuck these scrubs up right good.
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Game companies managers have no fucking idea how much crunch time costs.
Crunch is something you only do in a very last case scenario and even then, because after you deploy the final product, you need to give time out for you team.
You are burning out future productivity for a lesser amount productivity right now.
Game devs should unionise.
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My big MK11 write-up. i waited a bit because I wanted to pay the game a touch more, and try to include lots of thoughts.
MK11 is a good game, and is a refinement of what the NRS games have been doing since they started. So you know where I stand on NRS game:
-I love MK9 despite its broken/shoddiness. The game is super fun
-I do not like IJ 1. The first experiment with interactables was a failure, and NRS did not know how to deal with a slightly more traditional system.
-I do not like MKX. This whole game was just sloppy, with so much random nonsense everywhere that I didn’t really stick with it past a few weeks. I’ve heard it got better though.
-I like IJ2 quite a bit. It surprised me how well put together this game was. i was shocked it didn’t seem to hold the NRS community’s interest for very long.
I have never taken any of these games super seriously due to either a lack of time, or shit-acular net-code. So I’m not an expert on the nuances of the gameplay at higher levels. Its also really early.
Playing MK11 feels really good, for the most part. For almost every part of this write-up, I’m going to say something that will sound really good… then follow it up with a negative, just know that I think the good vastly outweighs the bad.
Movement on the ground is fantastic. The fast walk speeds and wide variety of normals make it so you rarely feel “handcuffed” like you do in SF4 or SFV. NRS has also made the frame data more varied, and most of the characters tools feel much better thought through. There is better balance in the buttons than MK 9 or X, and fewer “immobilizers”. There are also fewer strings (similar to IJ2) which is also an improvement. Less fluff. The also do something interesting with the walk speeds in that the walks are faster right at the start, then slow down a touch. This is somewhat similar to what you see in smash brothers. The benefit of this is that the “back and forth” footsie motions you see out of SF games are much more pronounced and effective.
Characters are also much better defined. While the MK characters still all have some tools from each “category” (eg - everyone has a projectile) the relative strength of these varies more from character to character. it really feels like there are strong tools for all parts of the screen. You can almost define the characters by their ranges. Most characters are Great in one range, good in another, and bad in a third. For example, Skarlet is Good at long, Great at Mid, and bad at close.
Damage is better balanced usually requiring risk or meter for bigger damage. Its there, but not always on tap. The Krushing bow system is also very cool. It helps differentiate tactics even among otherwise similar moves.
The current iteration of the NRS throw system is one of my favorites. If you are blocking, you cannot tech, no bullshit. However, if you aren’t, there are lots of different ways to avoid or punish the throw. I also think the defender still takes 2% even on throw tech, but am not sure.
Net-code is also top-notch.
Now for some of the “but’s”. While the ground game is feels really good, jumping is… weird. Its like there is a whole bunch of startup frames. This makes jumping over things feel weirdly laggy. There are also just a few too many advancing strings for my taste. While the variety in ranges is nice, sometimes the over abundance of variety makes things feel chaotic. I also still dislike how NRS games handle jump ins. They should just make them work like other games, what they have now is weird and unintuitive… but I also can’t see the benefit other than to be different.
There’s more. While the animations, on the whole, are actually quite good this time around, they don’t always do a good job of communicating guardstun. This can make it hard to “feel” what is happening. The buffer system is still wacky and feels random half the time.
The meter system is also a mixed bag. I think it works well for offense. It give equal resource for both defensive and offensive play style, and doesn’t reward one more or less than the other. On the defensive side… I don’t know. Part of the problem is, NRS had developed this wakeup/instant block system… but they’ve also kept tons of re-stands and “jail” situations that circumvent the system. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it makes me feel that the defensive half of the meter system is, less fleshed out.
Fatal blow is also mixed. On one hand, its a fairly intelligent implementation of a comeback mechanic. I would still rather just not have them, but if we must… this isn’t bad. Most do about 35%. where I like it less, is when you are only losing by a little bit, say 30% to 40%. The way the system works, in this spot, the loser has a tremendous advantage, and is actually in a better position to win the game than the “leader”. This is always a pitfall of comeback mechanics, and is why they are always a bad system.
If developers are so worried about little Timmy getting discouraged because Chris G beats him up… the solution is not to give little Timmy a YOLO option. The solution is to improve matchmaking so Little Timmy doesn’t fight Chris G in the first place.
Also, the cutscenes are way too long. They were fun at first, but now they drag.I hope they maybe add a “short animation” option like they do with summons in FF games.
Hit boxes can also be strange. most notably, blocking shrinks your hitbox. This creates a lot of strange situations. Also, some moves clearly bug out and/or don’t work properly from time to time.
The variation system is also hit and miss. I appreciate that the variations do less. I know that’s going to be an uncommon opinion, but I like the characters to be more “fixed points” in terms of functions. Variations were always silly anyways, as everyone just picked the best one. However… there are lots of cool moves and ideas that aren’t in the Tournament variations. This seems wasteful. i hope NRS takes another look at what moves are on the Tournament variations in the future, they certainly have some options.
Non-Gameplay content. I’m not going to talk about this as much because I really don’t care as much.
Graphics are absolutely top notch. Everything looks great, and the animation is actually solid this time around. While there are still a few wonky moves, on the whole, this looks solid now. They also toned down the gore mid fight, which I think is a visual improvement. Fatalities are also mostly better than MKX, which often felt random. Also, the stages look amazing.
Story mode. This is a pretty good story mode. Much closer in quality to MK9 or IJ2. its longer than most, and isn’t slapped together like IJ1 or MKX. Its a good ride, and has some fun moments. I wish they would have had a bit less going on, so they could focus on more character moments. Overall, its solid B movie fun, which is what MK is best at. Also, Kotal Kahn continues to be a punching bag. He jobs harder than Vegeta. Old Johnny and Cassie are fantastic in this game.
Krypt. its here again, and it feels… too much? This mode keeps getting more elaborate, and for me, its almost become obnoxious at this point. i prefer MK9’s krypt.
Online. Net-code is fantastic, however I’ve heard other people having issues with the matchmaker. i haven’t played al ot of matchmaking though, so I will withhold comment.
Economy. There are several different currencies… but i just find myself not caring? I actually think i would care more if it were more streamlined. i see all those currencies, and my brain just kinda “switches off”. Shrug
The tutorial mode is the best I’ve ever seen. Seriously, if you ever want to explain to someone how fighting games work. The MK11 tutorial is where its at. It even has sections for each character explaining basic tactics and move properties. There are unfortunately some weird oversights in this mode that make me think no one “proof-tested” this mode.
Training mode is also really good. Not quite SFV good, but still top notch.
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Blizzard Activision recently fired about 8% ( I think it was around 900 people) of their staff while declaring the most profitable year in the history of their company.
Let that sink in a bit.
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I just finished watching endgame.
I wanna express a thought.
I never liked Captain America as a comics character because to me he was corny AF, for this I want to give major props to the MCU for making him cool, he is definitively my favorite character from the movies, and he’s damn cool. Damn his 1st movie it’s the weakest of his movies and it’s still easily one of the best in the MCU.
Chris Evans did an amazing job.
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You deserve all of Frost’s trolling.
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Calling Captain America corny is an offense worthy of stoning and at the very least should be bannable. 
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Im in this strange scrubby territory in mk11 where i can beat some scrubby things easy but other even more scrubby strats i have no idea what to do.
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Yeah I remember when that happened. Was crazy but that is what you get with a mega corp. Had a banner year? Great! Now make more money next year.
Well our frachises aren’t doing so hot. How can we increase profits? Cut operating costs? Sure do whatever I have another yacht party to attend.
Saw that too in my early IT days though less severe. Anytime costs had to get adjusted what ended up happening was the people who had been there the longest - i.e. the best paid non-management - would get the axe. Great way to reward some of their most effective and loyal employees.
No room for empathy in business.
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